Pro Kabaddi 2019: 3 reasons why the Tamil Thalaivas could win the title
VIVO Pro Kabaddi 2019 is set to commence from 20th July 2019 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad where the hosts Telugu Titans will face off against U Mumba in the opening fixture of PKL 7.
Tamil Thalaivas were one out of four teams that made their debut in season 5 and featured in season 6 as well. In both seasons, the Thalaivas failed to qualify for the playoffs and found themselves at the bottom of the table at the end of both seasons.
The team looked strong on paper ahead of season 6. The captain of the Thalaivas, Ajay Thakur led the offensive attack extremely well as he went on to become the fifth-best raider of the tournament. However, he did not receive support in the raiding unit as the Thalaivas were knocked out of tournament.
On the defensive front, Manjeet Chhillar had a decent season as he finished as the 9th best defender of season 6. He executed breath-taking tackles and ensured that the defensive unit remained composed in their matches.
However, these individual signs of brilliance for Thalaivas were not enough for the team to qualify again. Ahead of the PKL 7 auctions, the Tamil Thalaivas retained Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar, Victor Onyango Obiero, Ponprathiban Subramanian (NYP), and Anand (NYP).
Under the guidance of head coach E Bhaskaran, the team signed 18 players in the auction with star-raider Rahul Chaudhari as their most expensive buy at ₹94 lakh. With PKL 7 only a few days away, here is a look at three possible reasons why the Tamil Thalaivas could win the Pro Kabaddi title.
#3 The raiding duo of Rahul Chaudhari and Ajay Thakur
The highest total points' scorer in Pro Kabaddi at the moment, Rahul Chaudhari was signed up by the Tamil Thalaivas from the PKL 7 auctions. From six seasons with the Telugu Titans, Rahul Chaudhari has 825 raid points from 100 matches at an average of 8.25 raid points per game.
Rahul is the second-highest raid points scorer with 36 super 10s to his name. Having outstanding numbers to his name, his running hand touch is the star raider's biggest strength with an ability to raid from both left and right sides.
He will be accompanied by skipper Ajay Thakur, who has been the best raider of the Thalaivas till date. Having made his Thalaivas debut in season 5, Thakur has scored 429 raid points in 44 matches at an average of 9.75 raid points for his side.
Both Rahul and Thakur are star raiders who have the skill to turn any match around single-handedly. They will form a potent raiding duo which could allow Rahul to raid without pressure, with Thakur set to back him up.